


Bad Day

by helsinkibaby



Series: In a Different Light [5]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Fisher King post ep, Het, Romance, season one spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 11:43:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13658298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: After a bad day, JJ goes looking for Hotch.





	Bad Day

She might not be a profiler but she's been working with them for long enough that when she hears that Hotch has left the BAU for the evening, JJ is fairly sure she knows where to go to find him. Then again, she thinks to herself, profiling skills have little or nothing to do with how she came by that knowledge. Still hoping against hope that she’s wrong, she gets in her car and heads to Elle’s house, not in the least surprised to find his car parked outside. Sighing, she heads inside, finds him standing in front of foot high letters written in blood, a basin of water at his feet, a cloth in his hand.

He doesn’t look around when she enters, even though he had to have heard the door opening and it crosses her mind that he was expecting her. For the lack of something better to say, she announces her presence quietly, saying, “I thought you’d be here.”

Hotch’s gaze flicks to her briefly, then back to the wall. “I thought it’d be you.” She tilts her head, understanding but still curious, so he elaborates, “I saw the headlights.”

She nods, then says something that’s already been said to him more than once, and not always by her. “This wasn’t your fault, Aaron.”

“I know.” But he doesn't look around and he keeps scrubbing the wall.

“Do you?” Her blunt question has him looking at her again, and there's a long pause and a deep sigh before he answers.

“I’m the Unit Chief… she got shot on my watch, when she was my responsibility…” 

“It still doesn’t make it your fault.” JJ steps closer. “You did everything you were supposed to do.” She reaches out, rests a hand on his back, barely keeping back a wince at how tightly wound his muscles are. She'd known he was going to take this hard - they've all been living on their nerves the last few days - but this is worse than she'd been expecting. 

“I know that. But it doesn’t help.”

“So that’s why you’re here? Cleaning blood off the wall?”

He shrugs. “I don’t want her to see this. I guess… it’s the only thing I can do right now.”

“I understand.” And she does, because even if she’s not a profiler, she knows that Aaron Hotchner has a knight in shining armour complex, and if he can’t save everyone all the time, he’ll damn well do what he can. It’s one of the things that she loves most about him. “Is there another cloth around?”

“Jen…” He shakes his head. “I have to do this.”

“I know… but you don’t have to do it alone.” Her eyes meet his then, and she holds his gaze until he looks down, the smallest shadow of a smile touching his lips.

“In the kitchen.” She gives him a nod and a smile, taking a step away, but her name from his lips calls her back. “Thank you.”

She smiles again, more softly this time, meets his eyes and sees some of the shadows there beginning to lift. She likes that, both the fact that it happens and the fact that she can do that for him, even after a bad day, after the worst days that they can remember. "Any time," she tells him and she knows that he understands. "Any time."


End file.
